North America

The head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has said that the agency 'expects a cost of about $100 million from tariffs for the government's more than $12.5 billion plan to modernize air traffic control. U.S. Representative 'Rick 'Larsen is a Washington Democrat and ranking member of the FAA committee. He said that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told lawmakers the tariff cost of $100 million was largely attributed to the air traffic radars they are buying. Larsen said that the tariffs were increasing government costs. Larsen stated, "I have asked them for specific figures and which equipment is affected." "I...

Federal Aviation Administration announced on Thursday that it had approved a waiver to the airplane emission rules, allowing Boeing to continue selling 35 more 777F Freighters after 2028. Boeing will be able to continue selling the planes until January 1, 2028 when new emission rules come into effect. This would have prevented the sale of this plane. Boeing had asked for approval in December 2025, citing a strong demand from customers and a delay with the certification of the next-generation aircraft. The 777F remains the only large-widebody freighter currently in production. Its next-generation replacement, the 777-8F (which is expected to...

Norfolk Southern executives told investors on Tuesday at the Morgan Stanley conference that higher fuel prices will 'create a significant headwind for the third quarter. CFO Jason Zampi stated that fuel prices were expected to peak in May. However, continued increases now represent a roughly 250-basis point headwind for Norfolk Southern's Operating?ratio when compared to expectations two months earlier. He said that the third-quarter performance is expected to be slightly lower than normal seasonal trends. Executives see continued incremental gains in freight market share, even with the current fuel pressure. Norfolk Southern's next big opportunity to move freight from highways...

The Canadian Transport Minister said that he expected a'strong interest' from Canadian pension funds and possibly Australians as well, when the country opened its four biggest airports for private investment. In an interview, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said: "We expect a very strong Canadian participation in these concession agreements." The Canadian investors have proven over time that they are very adept at investing in other jurisdictions. Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said earlier that his government is seeking private investment via long-term concessions for airports to be operated in Toronto, Montreal?Vancouver?and Calgary as part a campaign to stimulate the...

Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, said that the country is looking for?private investments through long-term concessions to 'operate' the four largest airports in the nation as part a campaign to stimulate the economy. Toronto, Montreal Calgary and Vancouver are the airports. Last year, the Liberal government announced that it was exploring ways to boost airport investment but did not provide specific details. Carney will welcome dozens of international investors to Toronto in the coming 'week. He hopes to attract investments for more than 160 projects, which he believes are crucial to Canada's economic survival during a trade conflict...

The railroad fuel surcharges on U.S. grain shipment have more than doubled in the last year. This has impacted the entire farm belt, increasing transportation costs at a time when many farmers are also struggling with higher production costs. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, the average fuel surcharge on grain shipments rose to 48 cents per mile for rail cars in the second?week of September. This is a?153% increase compared to the weighted averaging rate a year ago. Surcharges are used by railroads to recover the majority of fuel costs and add them to long-haul rates. According to...

This week, the cost of'shipping' oil in the largest tankers reached record levels following the most intense wave of attacks against shipping since the U.S. - Iran war began late in February. According to Baltic Exchange, the shipping rate for supertankers, also known as very large crude carriers (VLCCs), loading oil in the Gulf of Oman to be shipped to China, reached around 450 on Worldscale, which is?roughly?$11.50 per barrel. The rate is at its highest level since it was introduced earlier this year after the U.S. and Israel war against Iran. The increase in rates is a sign of...

Africa could transform itself as global competition increases for essential minerals. Although the continent has a large amount of energy transition metals like copper, manganese and cobalt but it is still far from its full potential. According to the Brookings Institution, Africa's share of global mineral revenue is only 10%, even though it holds 30% of world reserves. It's possible that there are still more hidden treasures underground. According to CSIS, the U.S. think tank, only 10% of the global mineral exploration was focused on the continent in 2024. As Africa moves to the forefront of the global battle for...

Africa could transform itself as global competition increases for essential minerals. Although the continent has a large amount of energy transition metals like copper, manganese and cobalt but it is still far from its full potential. According to the Brookings Institution, Africa's share in global mineral revenue is only 10%, even though it has 30% of the world’s reserves. It's possible that there are still more hidden riches underground. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. think tank, only 10% of global exploration will be focused on the continent by 2024. As Africa moves to the...

A Democratic lawmaker called for a U.S. agency responsible for auto safety to take action against misuse of Tesla Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Systems, citing videos that appeared to show drivers sleeping or disengaged. In a letter sent to Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, Illinois Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi cited a report by NBC News that identified 43 videos of individuals sleeping in the driving seat of Teslas moving, including 17 of them this year. Krishnamoorthi, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's director of safety policy and research, said that "the agency must ensure that manufacturers provide adequate safeguards for...

The?U.S. Postal Service was urged by lawmakers to halt the work on new mail-in voting rules. Postal Service ordered the halt to "work" on new rules for mail-in voting, Friday. In a letter to the USPS, Senator Gary Peters from Michigan and six other Democrats on the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wrote: "The Postal Service’s continued illegal efforts to transform itself into an electoral administration agency under the direction of President Trump risk disenfranchising American voters and threatening the integrity of the upcoming elections." On Thursday night, the Trump administration requested that the Supreme Court allow it...

The French Ministry of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, announced that France had begun testing two cars in order to assess Tesla's FSD (advanced driver assistance system). This could be a major step towards Europe's approval of Elon Musk’s autonomous driving technology. The Netherlands Road Authority RDW approved Tesla’s Full Self Driving System for use on Dutch highways on a proviso basis in April. This prompted Belgium, Denmark and Estonia to follow suit in anticipation of a bloc wide vote on the plan that could happen as soon as next month. FSD is an assistance system for drivers that allows them to...

PJM Interconnection, the US electric grid operator, called on 'large energy consumers' in 13?states?to reduce their consumption?on a Thursday as high temperatures fueled power demand and threatened blackouts. PJM is the largest regional grid operator in the US, covering the Mid-Atlantic region and the Midwest. The system reported that it had experienced power outages of about 36,000 megawatts, reducing the supply of electricity. PJM's "demand -response program" pays customers who temporarily reduce power or?cut it when asked to, in order to deal with rolling blackouts. As transmission and power plant operators enter maintenance season, the demand for cooling systems from...

Prices fell by 2% to a new low on Thursday, easing supply concerns. However, prices remain above $100 per barrel due to fears that the Middle East conflict may worsen. Brent crude futures fell $2.67 or 2.5% to $103.13 per barrel at 12:03 pm. After reaching their lowest level since October 10, ET (1603 GMT) has now reached its highest level. US West Texas Intermediate futures fell $1.61 or 1.6% to $100.82 per barrel, the lowest level since September 11. Both contracts dropped about $3 on Wednesday. Tim Waterer is the chief analyst at KCM Trade. He said that crude...

Preliminary ship tracking data on Thursday showed that the number of commodity?vessels transiting the Strait of?Hormuz dropped to three vessels?on Wednesday. This is down from?12 a?day?earlier. It's also well below the 10-day?average of 17 ships. These figures do not include any vessels who may have passed the waterway without their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders on to avoid detection. The data showed that at 0445 GMT, a Supramax dry-bulk?ship and a petroleum product tanker both entered the strait through the Iranian route. The data indicated that a Panamax tanker left the waterway via a dark route. The war in the...

U.S. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy'said Wednesday that the Trump administration will temporarily'relax rules on hours-of-service by truck drivers who handle?gasoline or diesel. He cited a?concern about?supply? and?cost?. The 90-day waiver comes into effect on Wednesday. It allows drivers to work up to 16 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period, as opposed to 14 under the existing rules. Duffy explained that the waiver was granted because disruptions in the short-term supply chains could cause delays in gasoline and diesel shipments. This could impact freight deliveries. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US average diesel price has reached a record...

According to three oil and security sources, two pumping stations that serve the vital 'East-West Pipeline' in Saudi Arabia have been damaged by an attack last week. Saudi Aramco did not reply to a comment request. The company operates the 1,200 km (745 mile) pipeline that runs across the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia's media office did not respond immediately to a comment request. Saudi officials said that the?pipeline which had helped to relieve the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz was temporarily shut down after an?attack by a drone coming from Iraq. Sources claim that the strike has damaged pumping...

The Gastech conference heard from the new chief executive of Thai energy firm PTTEP that every $3 increase in liquefied?gas price could increase Thai electricity rates by 5%. Kanita Sartwattayu said that if the price of gas is not reduced, it would be hard for Thailand to supply and maintain the gas. Thailand depends on LNG for 30 percent of its electricity generation. "In 10 years time, we will probably be relying on LNG 70% of the time if nothing changes. We are trying to "maintain domestic gas production as much as we can." Gas consumption is met by a...

A 'farm lobby group' and a'major farmers union" said that Ukraine was examining the possibility of adding additional insurance coverage to ships transporting food exports in order to help revive seaborne trade, which has been disrupted due to Russian attacks against vessels and port infrastructure. Since the summer of 2016, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian ports and commercial vessels. This has effectively stopped the seaborne exports from the country. Ukraine used to ship 90% of its cargo via Black Sea ports. The disruption has already reduced agricultural exports by 60 percent, putting the planting campaign in 2027 and...

The oil price?fell Wednesday after a 'two-day rally, following an unexpectedly high build up in the?U.S. Crude inventories remained high, and supply disruptions in Middle East persisted. Brent crude futures dropped 73 cents or 0.67% to $108.02 a bar at 0450 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate futures were down by $1.1, or 1.04% at $104.73 a bar. The Yanbu loading suspension raised supply concerns and Saudi Arabia reduced oil shipments to Europe. Both benchmarks closed more than $3 higher on Tuesday and were at their highest level since May 19. Market sources said on Tuesday that the American Petroleum Institute's...

Saudi Arabia's air defences destroyed an Houthi drone in Yemen before it could enter the forbidden airspace above the holy city. The drone intercepted Tuesday evening was the second Houthi attack on Mecca following a ballistic rocket launch in July 2017. Turki al Malki, the spokesperson for the Houthi, said this in a press release. This follows a series of attacks by Houthi fighters aligned with Iran that has drawn Saudi Arabia further into the conflict. Mecca, home to the holiest places in Islam, is the focal point of the annual hajj. Its security is a "redline", said coalition spokesperson...

Investors assessed the?risks of supply after Saudi Arabia suspended oil loadings in its Yanbu port after a?attack against its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea. Brent crude 'futures' fell 93 cents or 0.86% to $107.82 a bar at 0028 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate futures were also down 97 cents or 0.92% at $104.86 a bar. The Yanbu loading suspension has sparked supply concerns, and Saudi Arabia has cut oil shipments into Europe. Market sources reported on Tuesday that the American Petroleum Institute's data showed that U.S. crude, gasoline, and distillate inventories rose all over last week. API data cited...

Enbridge, a Canadian energy company, announced?that on Tuesday it began a non-binding public season for its proposed West Texas Express gas pipeline. The pipeline would transport gas from the Waha region of the Permian Shale in the west to markets around El Paso. The Permian, located in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, is the largest oil-producing shale region in the United States. The Permian basin, located in West Texas, eastern New Mexico and Pennsylvania, is the second largest gas-producing shale region in the United States. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that as oil and gas are produced more,...

Trade sources report that Saudi Arabia has cut off oil shipments from Europe to the Red Sea after drone attacks damaged its main export pipeline. This prompted top customers, such as Poland, to look for alternatives when cargo prices reached $120 per barrel. Saudi Arabia blamed the attacks on Iraqi militias, forcing the kingdom to shut down its East-West Desert Oil Pipeline on Friday. This has saved it from the worst of impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure over the past six months. On Tuesday, oil trading and shipping sources reported that Saudi Arabia informed European customers of the...